Shloka 36
Daitya–Dānava Vaṁśa, Kaśyapa’s Progeny, and the Birth of the Maruts
तस्याश् चैवान्तरप्रेप्सुर् अतिष्ठत् पाकशासनः ऊने वर्षशते चास्या ददर्शान्तरम् आत्मवान्
tasyāś caivāntaraprepsur atiṣṭhat pākaśāsanaḥ ūne varṣaśate cāsyā dadarśāntaram ātmavān
Desiring to learn what lay within her heart, Pākaśāsana (Indra) remained there in concealment; and in less than a hundred years, that self-possessed one perceived her inner state.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How Indra, by patience and concealment, discerned an opportunity against the embryo.
Teaching: Historical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Endurance and watchfulness can uncover the decisive inner lapse that alters outcomes.
Vedantic Theme: Karma
Application: Sustain mindful vigilance over long periods; small lapses can have large consequences.
Vishishtadvaita: Moral causality operates through minute acts within embodied life, under the Lord’s overarching governance.
FAQs
It highlights the Purāṇic theme that dharma is measured not only by outward action but by inner intention (antar), and that divine powers may test or observe that inner resolve.
Parāśara frames events so that motives and hidden resolve drive the plot—divine figures may remain unseen, and outcomes turn on what is truly held within the heart rather than what is publicly displayed.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the episode sits within a Vishnu Purana worldview where cosmic order is ultimately upheld under Vishnu’s sovereignty, and divine observation functions as a mechanism for preserving dharma across dynastic history.